Affiliation(s) du ou des auteurs / Author(s) Affiliation(s)

Résumé / Abstract

Maternal guinea pigs were injected with mercuric chloride (HgCl2; 1 mg Hg/kg body weight) or methylmercury (MeHg; 1 mg Hg/kg) 12 h after parturition, and exposure of the offspring to mercury (Hg) via breast milk were studied on days 3, 5 and 10 postpartum. Milk Hg concentrations were lower than maternal plasma Hg concentrations regardless of the form of Hg given to the dams. Milk Hg was higher in HgCl2-treated dams than in MeHg-treated dams. In MeHg-treated dams, MeHg was separately determined. While the ratio of MeHg to T-Hg decreased in the dams'plasma, it did not in the milk. There was a strong correlation between milk and plasma T-Hg concentrations in HgCl2 treated dams